Progress + warfare = human extinctionWe are Time-binders and the mark of human power is everywhere. When knowledge isincorporated into matter-energy, it becomes a tool. As Galambos explained:

“Humans develop evermore powerful knowledge and therefore evermorepowerful tools. When tools are used to harm other humans they are calledweapons. Since human knowledge can grow without limit then tools themselvescan be made without limit. And limitless tools can will produce limitlessweapons.”1

“No man can regard the way of war as good. It has simply been our way. No mancan evaluate the eternal contest of weapons as anything but the sheerest waste andthe sheerest folly. It has been simply our only means of final arbitration”2

We humans are a life form. We must avoid losing at all costs. Most of us embrace humanneutrality to avoid losing. But, if our human neutrality fails to protect us from losing, thenwe will fight. We will fight to surivive. We do not go quietly into that dark night. We willkill to remain alive.

Our Time-binding has made human technology evermore powerful, it has made humanwarfare evermore dangerous. Our species has the deepest of commitments to theadversary way. We humans can choose to change our ways, but do so will require us to

examine our past and to understand how we arrived at this crossroad. The human species
evolved from the world of animals. Our mother was a space-binder and she embraced the
adversary way. Robert Ardrey explains:

“Not in innocence, and not in Asia was mankind born. The home of our fathers wasthat African highland reaching north form the cape to the Lakes of the Nile. Herewe came about slowly — slowly, ever so slowly — on a sky-swept Savannahglowing with menace.

“In neither bankruptcy nor bastardy did we face our long beginnings. Man’s line islegitimate. Our ancestry is firmly rooted in the animal world, and to its subtle,antique ways our hearts are yet pledged. Children of all animal kind, weinherited many a social nicety as well as the predator’s way. But most significantof all our gifts, as things turned out, was the legacy bequeathed us by those killerapes, our immediate fore bearers. Even in the first long days of our beginnings weheld in our hands the weapon, an instrument somewhat older than ourselves.

“What are the things that we know about man? We know above all that man is aportion of the natural world and that much of the human reality lies hidden intimes past. We are an iceberg floating like a gleaming jewel down the cold bluewaters of the Denmark Strait; most of our presence is submerged in sea. We are amoonlit temple in a Guatemala jungle; our foundations are the secret of darknessand old creepers. We are a thriving , scrambling, evolving city; but no one canfind his way through our labrynith streets without awareness of the streets thathave stood there before. And so for the moment let us excavate man.

“What stands above the surface? His mind, I suppose. The mind is the city whosestreets we get lost in, the most recent construction on a very old site. After seventymillion years of most gradual primate enlargement, the brain nearly tripled insize in a few hundred thousand years. Our city is spacious and not lacking inmagnificence, but it was the problems of any boom-town. Let us dig.

“We are Cain’s children. The union of the enlarging brain and the carnivorous wayproduced man as a genetic possibility. The tightly packed weapons of thepredator form the highest, final, and most immediate foundation on which westand. How deep does it extend? A few million, five million, ten million? We donot know. But it is the material of our immediate foundation as it is the basic

material of our city. And we have so far been unable to buildwithout it.

“Man is a predator whose natural instinct is to kill with a weapon. The suddenaddition of the enlarged brain to the equipment of an armed already successfulpredator animal created not only the human being but also the humanpredicament. But the final foundation on which we stand has a strange cement.We are badweather animals. The deposit was laid down in a time of stress. It is nomere rubble of carnage and cunning. City and foundation alike are compacted bya mortar of mysterious strength,” — *the mortar of time-binding— “this mortargives us the capacity to survive no matter what the storm. The quality of thismortar may hold future significance far exceeding that of the material that itbinds. That choice is ours.

“But let us dig deeper. Layer upon layer of primate preparation lies buriedbeneath the predatory foundation. As the addition of a suddenly enlarged brainto the way of the hunting primate multiplied both the problems and the promiseof the sum total, man, so the addition of carnivorous demands to the non-aggressive, vegetarian primate way multiplied the problems and the promise ofthe sum total, our ancestorial primate.

“The primate had instincts demanding the maintenance and defense of territory: anattitude of perpetual hostility for the territorial neighbor; the formation of socialbands as the principle means of survival for a physically vulnerable creature; anattitude of amity and loyalty for the social partner; and varying but universalsystems of dominance to insure the efficiency of his social instrument and topromote the natural selection of the more fit from the less.

“We can only presume that when the necessities of the hunting life encountered thebasic primate instincts, then all were intensified. Conflicts became lethal,territorial arguments minor wars. The social band as a hunting and defense unitbecame harsher in its codes whether of amity or enmity. The dominant becamemore dominant, the subordinate more disciplined. Overshadowing all otherqualitative changes, however, was the coming of the aggressive imperative. Thecreature who had once killed only through circumstance killed now for a living.

“As we glimpsed in the predatory foundation of man’s nature the mysteriousstrength of the bad weather animal, we may see in the coming of the carnivorous

way something new and immense and perhaps more significant than the killing
necessity. The hunting primate was free. He was free of the forested prison;
wherever game roamed the world was his. His hands were freed from the Earth or
the bough; erect carriage opened new and unguessed opportunities for manual
answers to ancient quadruped problems. His daily life was freed from the eternal
munching; the capacity to digest high-calorie food meant a life more diverse than
one endless meal-time. And his wits were freed. Behind him lay the forest
orthodoxies. Ahead of him lay freedom of choice and invention as new
imperative if the revolutionary creature were to meet the unpredictable
challenges of a revolutionary way of life.”— *Time-binding was born of space-
binding— “freedom” — as the human being means freedom — was the first gift
of the predatory way. We may excavate man deeply ever more deeply as we dig
down through pre-primate, pre-mammal and even pre-land live levels of
experience. We shall pass through the beginnings of sexual activity as a year-
around affair and a consequent beginnings of the primate family. but all the other
instincts will be there still deeper down; the instinct to dominate one’s fellows, to
defend what one deems one’s own, to form societies, to mate, to eat and avoid
being eaten. The record will grow dim and the outlines blurred. But even in the
earliest deposits of our nature where death and the individual have their start, we
shall find traces of animal nostalgia, of fear and dominance and order.

“Here is our heritage, so far as we know it today. Here is the excavated mound ofour nature with Homo sapiens boom town on top. But whatever tall towers reasonmay fling against the storms and promises of the human future, their foundationsmust rest on the beds of our past for there is nowhere else to build.

“Cain’s children have their problems. It is difficult to describe the invention ofnuclear weapons as anything but the consummation of a species. Our historyreveals the development and contest of superior weapons as Homo sapiens singleuniversal, cultural pre-occupation. Peoples may perish, nation’s dwindle,empires fall; one civilization may surrender its memories to another civilization’ssands. But mankind as a whole, with an instinct as true as the meadowlark’s song,has never in a single instance allowed local failure to impede the progress of theweapon; its most significant cultural endowment.”3

These words were written by Robert Ardrey in 1961 as a wake up call for humanity. I was

fortunate to have had several conversations with Ardrey shortly before his death in 1980.
He did not believe that humankind’s commitment to the adversary way had to be
permanent, nor necessarily mandate a death sentence for our species. He knew
humankind was morethan simply a predator. He also recognized human amity, loyalty,
and social cooperation He knew that humanity was bound by “a mortar of mysterious
strength — a mortar that gives us the capacity to survive no matter what the storm. The
quality of this mortar may hold future significance far exceeding that of the material that it
binds. That choice is ours.” I felt this mortar he was referring to was what Korzybski had
called Time-binding, although Ardrey was not familiar with the term.

In a recent correspondence with synergy scientist N. Arthur Coulter, Jr.4, I was remindedof the both-andpoint of view. Coulter pointed out that we humans are omnivores, thismeans that our bodies are not eithercarnivore orherbivore. But rather, our bodies arebothcarnivore andherbivore.

R. Buckminster Fuller also took a more balanced approach in his analysis of the presenthuman condition. I believe he would have been in agreement with Coulter that humansbehave bothadversarily andcooperatively. Recall Fuller’s words from “Legally Piggily”:

“In my prehistory accounting I talk about the time when each ice age is engagingan enormous amount of the oceans’ water, lowering the waterfront and bringingtogether the islands of Borneo, the Philippines, and others, all to become part ofthe Malay Peninsula. I also spoke of the ice cap pushing the furry animalssouthward until they were suddenly pushed into the land of the previous islandsnow formed into the new peninsula — into land they could never before reach.This is how animals like tigers got out to now reislanded places like Bali. Humanbeing suddenly confronted with these wild animals learned how to cope, huntingsome and taming others. In following the evolution of human power structureswe are now particularly interested in the humans who found themselvesconfronted with a tidal wave of wild animals. Those who were overwhelmedbecame aggressive hunters, and those who were not overwhelmed becamepeaceful domesticators of the animals.Some of the most aggressive menmounted horses, moved faster than all others, and went out to seek the beasts.

“We have learned in the last decade from our behavioral science studies thataggression is a secondary behavior of humans — that when they get what they

need, when they need it, and are not overwhelmed, they are spontaneously
benevolent; it is only when they have relied on is no longer working.There are
two kinds of social behavior manifest today around the world — the benign
and the aggressive. It is probable that this dichotomy occurred in the human-
versus-animal confrontation in the ice age time.”5

When we humans get overwhelmed we become aggressive. This too seems to be whatArdrey’s meant when he wrote:

“No man can regard the way of war as good. It has simply been our way. No mancan evaluate the eternal contest of weapons as anything but the sheerest waste andthe sheerest folly. It has been simply our only means of finalarbitration. Any mancan suggest reasonable alternatives to the judgment of arms. But we are notcreatures of reason except in our own eyes.”6

We humans evolved from animal way — the adversary way. Our mother was a space-binder. When our survival is threatened, we will fight rather than die.

Ardrey focuses on humankind’s commitment to the adversary way because it is thiscommitment that now threatens our human survival, we are not threatened by our equallyvalidability to act cooperatively.

Ardrey was criticized by many social scientists as looking only at the darkside, andoverlooking the positive aspects of humanity. Coulter’s correspondence helped merealize that these critics of Ardrey’s focus are making the mistake of either/or thinking. Ifhumankind is eithera predator ora cooperator, then being a predator mandates the deathsentence for our species. This possibility is so frightening and unacceptable, that manysocial scientists have spent great effort to deny the human commitment to the adversaryway (see i.e. Ashley Montagu7).

In my final conversation with Ardrey shortly before his death, we discussed the future ofhumanity. Ardrey believed humankind could change, that we could transcend theadversary way and thus give ourselves the option to build a safe world. But, this couldnot happen unless we faced the truth. We could change only if we faced the truth of our

deep commitment to the adversary way, then we could learn from our mistakes, and
begin the repair our world.

Facing the truthThe evolution of the weapon is linked to the evolution of Time-binding. Humans createknowledge, when knowledge is imbedded in matter-energy is becomes a tool. When toolsare used to hurt others they become weapons.

For most of our human history, our tools have been simple. For most of our human historyour weapons have been equally as simple. With the explosion of Time-binding released byInstitutional Neutrality, our tools have become evermore powerful, and so have ourweapons.

Evermore powerful weapons—Civil War

“The American Civil War (1861-65) was the first conflict in which the technologyproduced by the Industrial Revolution — railroads, the telegraph, rifledweapons, and armored ships-was used extensively. The doctrine of total war wasintroduced by the Union general William T. Sherman, who laid waste to theindustrial and agricultural base that supported the armies of his Confederateopponents. It began on April 12, 1861, when Confederate General P. G. T.Beauregard opened fire on Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina,and lasted until May 26, 1865, when the last Confederate army surrendered. Thewar took more than 600,000 lives, destroyed property valued at $5 billion,brought freedom to 4 million black slaves, and opened wounds that have not yetcompletely healed more than 125 years later.”8

Fifty years later—World War I

“World War I began on July 28, 1914, with the declaration of war by Austria-Hungary on Serbia, and hostilities between the Allied and Central Powerscontinued until the signing of the armistice on November 11, 1918, a period of 4years, 3 months, and 14 days. The aggregate direct war costs of all the belligerentsamounted to about $186 billion. Casualties in the land forces amounted to morethan 37 million; in addition, close to 10 million deaths among the civilian

“A rough consensus has been reached on the total cost of the World War II. Interms of money spent, it has been put at more than $1 trillion, which makes itmore expensive than all other wars combined. The human cost, not includingmore than 5 million Jews killed in the Holocaust who were indirect victims of thewar, is estimated to have been 55 million dead — 25 million of those military and30 million civilian.

“The U.S. spent the most money on the war, an estimated $341 billion. Germanywas next, with $272 billion; followed by the Soviet Union, $192 billion; and thenBritain, $120 billion; Italy, $94 billion; and Japan, $56 billion. Except for the U.S.,however, and some of the less militarily active Allies, the money spent does notcome close to being the war’s true cost. The Soviet government has calculated thatthe USSR lost 30 percent of its national wealth, while Nazi exactions and lootingwere of incalculable amounts in the occupied countries. The full cost to Japan hasbeen estimated at $562 billion. In Germany, bombing and shelling had produced 4billion cu m (5 billion cu yd) of rubble.

“The human cost of the war fell heaviest on the USSR, for which the official total,military and civilian, is given as more than 20 million killed. The Allied militaryand civilian losses were 44 million; those of the Axis, 11 million. The militarydeaths on both sides in Europe numbered 19 million and in the war against Japan,6 million. The U.S., which had no significant civilian losses, sustained 292,131battle deaths and 115,187 deaths from other causes. The highest numbers of deaths,military and civilian, were as follows: USSR more than 13,000,000 military and7,000,000 civilian; China 3,500,000 and 10,000,000; Germany 3,500,000 and 3,800,000;Poland 120,000 and 5,300,000; Japan 1,700,000 and 380,000; Yugoslavia 300,000 and1,300,000; Romania 200,000 and 465,000; France 250,000 and 360,000; British Empireand Commonwealth 452,000 and 60,000; Italy 330,000 and 80,000; Hungary 120,000and 280,000; and Czechoslovakia 10,000 and 330,000.

“Perhaps the most significant casualty over the long term was the world balance ofpower. Britain, France, Germany, and Japan ceased to be great powers in the